Omaha daily bee., 1887-11-04
The CHARLTON GRAVE ROBBER
Young DR.. Gillespie Indicted BY the
Grand Jury.
MUCH DAMAGING EVIDENCE.
How the Body Was Stolen-A Hack.
man Tells His StOry--Nfiscegena.
tiOn at Mason City-Ft. Madi.
son Convicts Escape.
Looks Dark For the Doctor

{ DEs MONIES, Ia, Nov 3-[Special Tcle-
gram to the BEE. Tho grand jury at
Charlton has just indicted DR.. J. A. Gillespie
for grave robbery and bound him over to the
district court.
Public interest in the shocking case is in
creasing both there and here. A confirmatory
circumstance occurred to-day when the hack
man called at the baggage rooms Of the
Chicago, Burlington Il Quincy road and
presented the check for the box in which the
corpse was packed. He had been after the
piece Of baggage several times before but
the officials had put him of till now. Acting
under advice they took his check and found
1t corresponded to the one on the box. The
hackman says that he was at the
train as usual when it arrived
last Monday morning and the check was
given to HIM by stranger who told him to
deliver the baggage for which it called at the
foot Of a stairway on East Sixth street. The
stairway leads up to the physicians office in
which young Gillespie is studying. The facts
as they appear now show that last Sunday
this young Doctor j. A. Gillespie, who had
formerly lived in Charitan went to livery
there, and hired a team saying he wished to
go into the country to see his folks. He was
that he met his folks and did not go as far as
he intended. So after he had bought his
ticket to Des Moines and checked as his bag
gage this small box, 16x22 inches, and left
Immediately for Des Moines reaching here
about o'clock Monday morning. When the
box reached this city the baggage agent was
attracted by the peculiar odor that came
from it, and prying it open made the horrible
discovery that it contained human body
doubled up and jammed into the small space
Inquiry at Charlton showed that the person
checking the box was young Gillespie and he
was at once arrested and taken to Charlton,
where he waived preliminary examination
and was taken at once before the grand jury
which Is now i'll session. When the news
first reached Charlton public indignation ran
so high that the officers did not dare take
their prisoner into town by the usual way,
but stopped the train in the outskirts of the
suburbs and drove the rest of the way to the
Jail
Almost the entire population seemed to be
at the depot and could the crowd have gotten
hold of Gillespie then he would probably
never have had any other trial than that ac-
corded by Judge Lynch, but with time for
reflection and investigation, another side OF
the matter come out which has changed the
direction of public sentiment. The woman
in the box was identified as Mrr. Jessie Cor
bett, who had died about week before. The
hotel keeper at Charlton says that last Friday
night Gillespie and Mr.. Corbett occupied a
room together and in the morning Gillespie
paid the bill for the two. From this an In
credible report is made duplicating other par
ties in the deed, and Gillespie's
friends are said to have declared at
Charlton that he Is not personally
to blame for the robbery. 1t further appears
that the cemetery in which the woman was
buried was about mile out of Charlton and
the grave some little distance from the road.
Investigation shows that the woman's cloth
ing was thrown back into the coffin and the
grave but partially filed, the whole Job being
done in a bungling manner. A hedge fence
was III the way and an opening through it
was discovered through which, it is sup
posed, the body was dragged. This explains
the scratches and abrasions upon it. Some
other suggestive circumstances also have
come to light. Shortly after the corpse
was brought to this city articles of incorpor-
alton of new medical college for this city
was filed and it is stated that one
of the incorporators was particular friend
of the Gllespes and he himself is supposed
to be Inferred in it, Great interest is felt in
the outcome of the case, and the excitement
is not lessened by knowledge of the fact that
the woman died of typhoid fever, and the
transportation by railroad of a body that
had died of IA contagious disease, is made Il
serious offense by the Iowa statutes.